Beverage dispenser cabinet



March 5, 1968 D. D. 6055 3,371,824

BEVERAGE DISPENSER CABINET Filed Aug. 1. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r I"\LIIIYIIIIIIIIIII March 5, 1968 n. D. 6085 3,371,824

BEVERAGE DISPENSER CABINET Filed Aug. 1, 1966 2 sheets-sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent C 3,371,824 BEVERAGE DISPENSER CABINET Donald D. Goss,Marblehead, Mass., assignor to H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc., Boston, Mass, acorporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 569,359 11Claims. (Cl. 222105) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A beverage dispensercabinet for storing and dispensing beverages of the type which are bulkpackaged in flexible plastic bags includes a body member with a removable front wall having an opening receptive of the bag spout,interfitting means removably lock the front Wall and body member inassembled relation against the liquid pressure of the beverage. Thefront wall may form separate upper and lower portions, with the upperportion being separately removable to provide front access to thecabinet when the beverage bag is partially emptied;

For beverage bags having flexible spout means, the front wall opening isa gap beneath said front wall, and the cabinet has yielding pinch meansfor opening and closing the spout.

This invention relates to a device for storing and dispensing beveragesof the type which are bulk packaged in flexible plastic bags.

Beverages such as milk can be hygienically and economically packaged inbulk by means of plastic bags. The sealed bags collapse as the beverageis Withdrawn without air entering the bag to come into contact with thebeverage. However, because of their lack of rigidity, these plastic bagsare currently sold with supporting paperboard cartons which support theplastic bags in proper position for dispensing. When the beverage isexhausted, the paperboard carton and plastic bag are discarded. Becausethe cost of these paperboard cartons is relatively high, beveragespackaged by this method do not provide the cost saving inherent in theuse of bags as containers.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a cabinet for storingand dispensing beverages which permits beverages to be both packaged anddelivered in bulk in inexpensive plastic bags, which permits easyinsertion and removal of a plastic bag, which permits even and positivedispensing of the beverage without unsanitary handling, and which isreusable, simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and adaptable withminor modifications to a variety of types of plastic bags.

In accordance with the present invention, the reusable dispenser cabinetfor liquid beverages packaged in flexible plastic bags having attachedspout means comprises a body member with rear, two side and bottomwalls, and a removable front wall, said front Wall having an openingreceptive of said bag spout means, said front wall and body memberhaving interfitting means removably locking them in assembled relationagainst liquid pressure of said beverage. Preferably said side wallshave ribs abutting said front wall for Vertical alignment.

Other and further novel features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following description of specific embodiments shown in theaccompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a view of a fiexible plasticbag of the type having an attached valve spout extending therefrom;

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of the invention adapted for use with this typeof bag;

FIG. 3 is a section, to enlarged scale, on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a modification, to reduced scale, of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view of a novel plastic bag having an outwardly extendingdispensing spout formed therein;

FIG. 6 is a partial front view of an embodiment of the invention adaptedfor use with this type of bag;

FIG. 7 is a section, to enlarged scale, on line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a section, to enlarged scale, on line 8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a front view, to reduced scale, of the embodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a section, to enlarged scale, on the line 11--11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a side view of the removable front wall of the cabinet ofFIG. 9; and

FIG. 13 is a partial front view of the wall of FIG. 12.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a flexible plastic bag 1 ofthe known type having spout means comprising an attached valve 2extending therefrom. The bag is formed from two sheets of plasticmaterial, the edges of the bag being heat-sealed hermetically to enclosethe beverage placed therein. As shown in FIG. 3, the valve 2 has asealing flange 3 which is heat-sealed to the bag 1, a stem 4 upon whichare located a pair of parallel mounting flanges 5, and an actuator 6slidable in the stem to open and close the valve.

The embodiment of the cabinet shown in FIG. 2 is adapted for use withbags of the type shown in FIG. 1. This embodiment comprises a bodymember 7 for the bag 1 having an open top, rear wall 40, two side walls41 and 42, and a bottom wall 9 (FIG. 3) inclined downwardly from backwall 40 to the front of member 7.

The front of the member 7 is closed by a removable front wall 8 which isdivided horizontally into separately removable upper and bottom portions8 and 8". Upper portion 8' is separately removable to provide frontaccess to the upper portion of member 7, as the beverage in bag 1 isdispensed, for use as storage in the refrigerator where top access maybe restricted.

Side walls 41 and 42 have a first pair of inwardly directed opposedvertical ribs 43 and 44, respectively, and, spaced therefrom, a secondpair of inwardly directed ribs 45 and 46, respectively. Rib pairs 43, 45and 44, 46 define therebetween a vertical slot receptive of front wall8.

As shown in FIG. 2, ribs 43 and 44 are provided with a pair of verticalcam slots 13 and 14. The outside edges of these slots are substantiallyvertical, while the inside edges 13' and 14' of the slots inclineupwardly and inwardly to form a carnming surface. Front wall 8 has apair of headed pins 15 and 16 so located as to fit in slots 13 and 14.Downward pressure on pins 15 and 16 operates on the cam edges 13 and 14'to draw the sides 41 and 42 inwardly to eliminate any sidewisedistortion of the sides caused by outward pressure of the beverage inbag 1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the front wall 8 is provided with a slot 17extending vertically from its bottom edge to accommodate the valve 2.The mounting flanges 5 on the valve fit on either side of the wall 8,and thereby hold the valve securely for sliding motion of the actuator6. To accommodate the generally larger sealing flange 3 on the valve,the bottom wall 9 is preferably provided with an opening 18 whichaccommodates the valve flange 3 and permits the valve to be lowered inthe slot 17 as the beverage is dispensed, thereby minimizing wastage ofthe beverage.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modification of the invention to accommodate twobeverage bags. In this modification, the

cabinet has a vertical, front to back, partition 19 and front wall 8 hasa pair of vertical slots 17 and 17b disposed on opposite sides of thepartition. The remaining parts of the cabinet are otherwise the same asthe cabinet of FIG. 2, except that two Openings 18 (not shown) in thebottom wall 9 below slots 17a and 17b are provided substantially asshown in FIG. 3. Two bags 1a and 11), for example of different beveragessuch as regular and skim milk, can be accommodated, one on either sideof partition 19.

A modified cabinet for bag 1 is shown in FIGS. 9l3. Body member 7' againcomprises a back wall 40, two side walls 41 and 42 and an inclinedbottom wall 9 (FIG. 3). However, removable front wall 8a and the meansfor its insertion and locking are modified.

Front wall 8a comprises a single panel having hooks 47 and 48 at opposedupper corners adapted to fit over the upper forward edges of sides 41and 42 to prevent the liquid pressure of the beverage in bag 1 fromspreading the sides. If desired, sides 41 and 42, at their forward endsin front of hooks 47 and 48 can be provided with projections 49 and 50,the rear edges of which provide abutment shoulders for hooks 47 and 48.

Sides 41 and 42 have inwardly directed, opposed vertical ribs 51 and 52located to abut the rear surface of wall 8a for vertically aligning thelatter. Wall 8a has, on its rear surface, brackets 53 and 54 located toembrace ribs 51 and 52 to prevent forward movement of wall 8a. Wall St:also has slot 17 for receiving bag valve 2 as shown in FIG. 3.

A novel flexible plastic bag 20 is shown in FIG. 5. Bag 20 is also madefrom two sheets of plastic material heat-sealed around the edges to forma flange 11. Substantially centrally of one side, a dispensing spout 21is formed by heat-sealing. The flange 11 extends around and beyond spout21 to form a pull tab 22 which extends outwardly from the spout 21, andtab and spout are provided with a tear line 23 formed by scoring orotherwise weakening the plastic material so that the dispensing spout 21may be opened on the tear line 23 simply by forcibly pulling the tab 22.Locating holes 24 are provided on each side of the dispensing spout 21in the heat-sealed flange 11. The bag is filled with beverage through anedge, preferably the top, of the bag before it is heat-sealed.

FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate an embodiment of the invention especiallyadapted for use with bag 20. This embodiment comprises a front wall 8bwith headed pins and 16 engaging cam slots 13 and 14 in ribs 43 and 44as before. The bottom wall 9a of the cabinet inclines downwardly towardthe front edge of the receptacle as before but omits the opening 18 ofFIG. 3 which is not useful in the absence of valve 2.

Removable front wall 8b has a yielding pinch valve 26 mounted on itsfront surface in position to cooperate with the front edge of the bottomwall 9a to regulate flow through the dispensing spout 21 of the bagwhich extends out of the cabinet through opening 170 comprising acentral gap between the bottom of front wall 8b and bottom wall 9a.

The pinch valve 26 comprises a mounting plate 27 secured to the frontwall 8b, a bar 28 constituting a movable transverse edge, movablesubstantially horizontally to and away from the front edge of the bottomwall )a, leaf springs 29 and 30 secured at one end to the bar 28 and atthe other end to the mounting plate 27 for urging the bar 28 against thefront edge of the bottom wall 911, and lever 31 pivotally mounted at thebottom of the mounting plate 27 and having a crossbar 32 secured theretoto engage the underside of springs 29 and 30 to lift the springs and bar28 outwardly as the lever 31 is pivoted. A handle 33 is secured to thelever 31 at its upper end. As shown in FIG. 7, the pinch valve 26 iscompact, extending only slightly from the front wall 812. Because thelever 31 can supply a large mechanical advantage, the springs 29, 30 canbe made very strong to assure effective sealing without requiring theuser to exert a large force to open the valve.

The front edge of the bottom wall 9a is provided with a groove 34 whichreceives the bar 28. Outwardly of central gap 170, groove 34 has uppercam surfaces 34a and 341; which extend forwardly of the front surface ofbottom wall 9a. Cam surfaces 34a and 34b serve to move bar 28 outwardly,over and away from spout 21 when the wall 822 is inserted with the bag20 in position without disturbing the spout. When the lower edges of thecams are cleared, bar 28 snaps inwardly into groove 34 to clamp spout 21closed. Then tab 22 may be torn at line 23 and the beverage will beavailable for dispensing by actuating handle 33. Register pins 36 (FIG.7) are provided in bottom wall 9a to engage locating holes 24 in bag 20for positive positioning of the bag in the cabinet.

As shown in FIG. 7, the dispensing spout 21 on the bag 20 extends out ofthe cabinet through the opening and between the bar 28 and groove 34.Below opening 17c and between cam surfaces 34a and 34b, the uppersurface of bottom wall 9a can be downwardly tapered as illustrated inFIG. 7 to the groove 34 to provide, if desired, a defined channel forspout 21.

To insert a bag of the type shown in FIG. 5 into the cabinet shown inFIGS. 6 to 8, the front wall 8b is first removed, or at least raisedwell above the bottom wall 9a of the cabinet. The bag is inserted withregister pins 36 fitting through locating holes 24 in the bag. Wall 8bis then lowered. As it descends, pins 15 and 16 enter slots 13 and 14and eliminate sidewise distortion of the cabinet. The bar 28, uponreaching the cam surfaces 34a and 34b, is forced outwardly, away fromspout 21 until it snaps into groove 34 to seal dispensing spout 21. Pulltab 22 is then torn at the tear line 23 to render the beverage ready fordispensing. Dispensing is accomplished by pulling the handle 33 whichseparates bar 28 from groove 34 and permits the beverage to drainthrough the dispensing spout 21. The inclined bottom 9a of thereceptacle provides a gravity augmented feed and allows all of thebeverage in the plastic bag 20 to be dispensed.

. It should be noted that cabinets according to the invention asdescribed can be inexpensively manufactured from plastic materials, forexample by molding. They can be attractively decorated and convenientlysized to fit in refrigerators. They may also be constructed frominsulating material for unrefrigerated use if desired. The resultingcabinets are easy to make and convenient to use, and their low cost anddurability render continued use by a consumer less expensive than theuse of disposable paperboard cartons.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is for thepurpose of illustration and that the invention includes allmodifications within the scope of the appended claims. It will beapparent, for example, that pinch valve 26 can be mounted on front wall8a and bottom wall 9a substituted for bottom wall 3 in the embodiment ofFIGS. 9-13 to adapt that embodiment for use with bag 20.

I claim:

1. A reusable dispenser cabinet for a beverage packaged in a flexiblebag having attached spout means, said cabinet comprising '(a) a bodymember with rear, two side, and bottom walls, and

(b) a removable front wall,

(c) said front wall having an opening receptive of said bag spout means,

(d) each of said side walls having an inwardly directed rib adjacent itsfront edge adapted to abut one surface of said removable front wall foralignment when assembled,

(e) said front wall and body member having inter-fitting means removablylocking them in assembled relation against liquid pressure of saidbeverage, said interfitting means being operative to lock and unlocksaid members by vertical travel of said front wall through a distancesubstantially less than the height of said front wall.

2. A cabinet according to claim 2 wherein said interfitting meanscomprises cam slots on said ribs and headed pins fitting therein on saidfront wall, downward pressure of the pins on the walls of the cam slotsbringing the front and side walls into alignment.

3. A cabinet according to claim 2 wherein each of said side walls hastwo .inwardly directed ribs defining between them a vertical slot forreceiving the side edges of said front wall.

4. A cabinet according to claim 1 having an open top and wherein saidfront wall comprises separate upper and lower portions, the upperportion being separately removable to provide front access to thecabinet for storage when the beverage bag is partially emptied.

5. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said interfitting meanscomprises overhanging hook means on the upper corners of the front walladapted to fit over the upper edges of the side walls to lock the wallsin position against liquid pressure of said beverage.

6. A cabinet according to claim 5 wherein said front wall is adapted toabut the front side of said ribs and has bracket members in its rearface adapted to fit behind said ribs vertically to align said frontwall.

7. A cabinet according to claim 7 wherein said bag spout has a mountingflange and said bottom wall below said front wall opening has an openingreceptive of said flange.

8. A reusable dispenser cabinet for a beverage packaged in a flexiblebag having flexible spout means, said cabinet comprising a body memberwith rear, two side, and bottom walls, and a removable front wall, saidfront wall having an opening receptive of said bag spout meanscomprising a gap between the bottom of said front wall and the top ofsaid bottom wall through which said spout means extends, said cabinethaving yielding pinch means at said gap for opening and closing saidspout, said front wall and body member having interfitting meansremovab'ly locking them in assembled relation against liquid pressure ofsaid beverage.

9. A cabinet according to claim 8 wherein said pinch means comprises amovable transverse edge interfitting with a bearing surface on the frontof said bottom Wall.

10. A cabinet according to claim 9 wherein said bearing surfacecomprises a groove in the front edge of said bottom wall, said groovehaving upper cam surfaces on either side of said gap adapted to liftsaid edge into said groove with said spout in position.

11. A cabinet according to claim '10 wherein said bottom wall has meansfor positioning said spout in said gap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,226,112 12/1940 Blechman 217-623,026,005 3/1962 Cook 222 3,116,854 1/"1964 Rabb et a1. 222--1833,191,810 6/ 1965 Johnston 222185 3,255,932 6/1966 Hunter et al.222--105 3,297,206 1/1967 Scholle 222--105 STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, PrimaryExaminer.

UIIITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,371,824 March 5 1968 Donald D. 6055 It is certified that error appears inthe above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 5, line 5, for the claim reference numeral "-2" read -l line 28for the claim reference numeral "7" read l Signed and sealed this 15thday of July 1969.

(SEAL) Attesm M Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, IR.

